


Leave Your Old Life Behind

by ViimaTheFailcat



Series: Forest Cover [3]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Animal Spirit, Gen, M/M, Spirit World, Spirits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-29
Updated: 2014-06-29
Packaged: 2018-02-06 17:11:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1865808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViimaTheFailcat/pseuds/ViimaTheFailcat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dwalin returns to the castle and there is a new attack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leave Your Old Life Behind

Dwalin made his way to the room he had in the King’s castle, absent-mindedly wondering about the black drapes on the walls.

 

He opened the door to his room to find Balin there. “Greetings, brother,” Dwalin said, “What are you doing in my chambers?”

 

As Dwalin spoke up, Balin jolted violently and dropped the axe he was holding. He whipped around to face Dwalin, face pale. “D-Dwalin?!” Quickly, he walked to Dwalin and grabbed his arms. “Is that really you?”

 

Dwalin frowned. “Of course it is me. Who else would it be?”

 

Balin’s eyes welled up. “We thought you were dead.”

 

Dwalin scoffed. “I just got lost. I went into the woodland and slept for a few hours.”

 

Balin stared at him. “That is a tasteless joke, brother.”

 

“... What do you mean?”

 

“You were gone for a week!”

 

Dwalin froze. “What?”

 

“After the battle, no one could find you, not even your body... We assumed you fell.”

 

It dawned on Dwalin that the few hours he spent in the forest cover was days outside. Damn that blasted owl for not telling him!

 

“What happened?” Balin asked. “Where were you?”

 

Might as well tell the truth. “I was in forest cover.” Balin’s eyes widened. “An owl spirit pulled me into it and healed me.”

 

Balin gaped. “How did you get out?”

 

Dwalin shrugged. “He let me.”

 

“The owl spirit… let you… out of the cover?” Balin said slowly, like expecting Dwalin to burst in laughter and tell him he was pulling his leg.

 

“Yes,” Dwalin said, as serious as ever.

 

“Without demanding a payment of what he did for you?”

 

“Well, he did, but I managed to get out of it and pay him later.”

 

“You tricked a spirit?!” Balin looked terrified and a tiny bit impressed.

 

Dwalin shrugged. “Sort of, yes.”

 

Balin took a deep breath and sat down on Dwalin’s bed, shaking his head. “This still feels like a joke.”

 

Dwalin sat down next to him and clapped his shoulder. “Then you know how I feel.”

 

***

 

Weeks later when Dwalin had returned to the castle, King Thorin’s enemies arranged another attack on the castle.

 

Only this time, King Thorin’s troops had no hope of shaking the attack off. The King’s army was losing the battle.

 

Dwalin stared at the map of the battlegrounds with Balin while the King paced in the tent.

 

“There is no way out of this, is there?” Thorin asked glumly.

 

Balin pursed his lips. His silence told more than a thousand words.

 

Thorin sighed and his shoulders sagged in… despair? “We need a miracle.”

 

Dwalin stared at the map and saw the woodland near the edge. Something sparked in his memory. He strode out of the tent, causing his brother to make a surprised sound. “Dwalin, where are you going?” Balin shouted after him.

 

“To get the miracle we need!” Dwalin shouted back, striding towards the woodlands.

 

***

 

“Ori! Ori! Are you here?” Dwalin bellowed, “My debt! I’ve come to repay it!”

 

“Don’t shout so loud,” a voice came from behind Dwalin, “My brothers will hear you.”

 

Dwalin whipped around and, sure enough, Ori was there. The warrior strode to the owl spirit. “I’ve come to repay my debt,” he panted.

 

“Yes, I heard that,” Ori said, “but why now?”

 

“There is another attack on the castle,” Dwalin explained hurriedly, “You said you could give me great powers. I need… I need to save my people.”

 

Ori regarded Dwalin coolly. “You are doing this out of loyalty to your king.”

 

Dwalin was getting impatient. “Yes.”

 

Ori was silent for a moment. “No.”

 

Dwalin stared. “No?”

 

“No. You are doing this out of loyalty for someone else, not for me.” Ori’s eyes glowed yellow. “I cannot accept that.”

 

“Wh-” Dwalin stepped closer to Ori and grabbed his shoulders. “What do you mean you cannot accept it? I’m fully aware that accepting the power means sacrificing my humanity and leaving my King and my brother behind. I understand it means that I would have to live in the woodlands for the rest of my days.” Dwalin took a deep breath. “Please. My people are dying out there. I need to save them.” Dwalin’s voice broke. “Please.”

 

Ori pursed his lips and crossed his arms. “Completely unselfish reasons?”

 

Dwalin nodded. “I’m doing this only for my people and my King.”

 

“Not your people. Not your king,” Ori said. “A people and a king. After you’ve received your powers, you will be loyal to them no more. Your will be loyal to me and me alone. Do you understand?”

 

Dwalin nodded numbly. “I understand.”

 

“Good. Now, you might become any kind of spirit in the world. I don’t even know what kind of spirits there are, so you might end up with something great or something useless.”

 

“Yes yes yes yes, I know!” Dwalin was getting impatient. “Just give it to me and explain later!”

 

Ori sighed, irritated. “Come here.”

 

Dwalin gave Ori a suspicious look but did as he was told.

 

Ori set his hands on Dwalin’s shoulders and stood on his toes to bring their faces closer. “Hereby I grant you powers the spirit world sees fitting for you,” he said and kissed Dwalin.

 

Dwalin jolted and drew a sharp breath through his nose as a sudden surge of… power, pure, unadulterated power ran through him. He tried to pull away from the kiss, but Ori grasped his neck and kept him in. Dwalin was burning, his veins were on fire.

 

Just when Dwalin thought he was about to burst in flame or melt, Ori let him go with a small pop as their lips separated.

 

“Accept your new form, Dwalin, son of Fundin,” Ori said and stepped back.

 

Dwalin immediately fell onto his knees, gasping for breath. The burning was gone, but now his bones were stretching and changing shape. He looked at his hands. His fingernails were turning black and growing rapidly, turning into claws. He could see his fingers getting shorter and thicker and fur growing on his arms. No, not just his arms. His whole body. Dwalin let out a sound he refused to call a whimper and closed his eyes.

 

Soon the feeling of changing ended and Dwalin opened his eyes.

 

“Rise, Dwalin, the bear spirit,” Ori said.

 

Dwalin growled and rose onto his hind legs, making himself tower over Ori. He felt… powerful. He felt like he could do anything. He looked at the trees around him, sure that he could easily just swipe them and tear them to pieces with his giant paws. Dwalin looked at his paws and did just that. The wood broke into splinters under his claws, with satisfying cracks.

 

“Didn’t you have something to do?” Ori asked dryly.

 

Dwalin grunted, something stirring in his memory.

 

“I give you permission to go and help the human king,” Ori said, “But I order you to come back to me after you’re done.”

 

King? King! The attack! They needed a miracle, and Dwalin had it now. Dwalin roared and ran towards the edge of the woodland. He made it to the battlefield where the king’s troops were still losing. Anger boiled in Dwalin’s veins and he roared again. This time his roar was so loud that the ground shook and the battle fell quiet before him. Dwalin watched the astonished soldiers and warriors in front of him.

 

Slowly, a sleuth of bears appeared behind Dwalin, summoned by his roar. Dwalin bowed his head and grunted. Then the bears attacked, running into the battle.

 

They were ruthless. They tore The King’s enemies apart with their claws and bit their legs, arms and everything they could.

 

The only ones that were spared were The King’s army.

 

Soon the battlefield fell silent, as the enemies were killed or they had fled. There was a surreal moment of silence as The King’s army stood and stared at the bears in thunderstruck silence. Soon someone lifted their sword up and shouted: “Long live the bears!” The rest of the warriors joined the chant and soon the battlefield was filled with celebration and cheer.

 

Dwalin sat down heavily and huffed. The rest of the bears sauntered back into the woodland like nothing had happened, leaving the celebrating troops behind.

 

“We owe you,” a voice said. Dwalin turned his head to see the king standing humbly in his left. “Me and my people owe you. For saving us in our moment of need.”

 

Dwalin grunted, bowing his head.

 

“If there is anything my people can do for you,” the king continued, “We would be happy to repay our debt.”

 

Dwalin blinked. Debt…? Why did it sound so familiar?

 

The king bowed, lowering his head in front of the bear. His people followed his example.

 

Dwalin looked around at the humans bowing to a bear. He turned back to the king and let out a sound that he hoped was a gentle growl, lifting his paw to pat the king’s shoulder. The king twitched, either from surprise or from from making an aborted reach for his sword. Dwalin pulled his paw away and stood. He was starting to feel a pull towards the woodland. He had to go.

 

So he went.

 

**Author's Note:**

> There will be one more fic to this series. Maybe two, if the muse stays with me.


End file.
